Seagull Survey

Update on seagull nest cull (27 November 2016) - we have written to many addresses in Invergordon and Alness to try and get further locations for nests. We have got a price for each nest removal in the Spring and this is £60. We are asking if people can afford to pay, that they pay, but others who cannot, we will try and fund from the Council, although this is NOT a Council statutory responsibility, it would be something that we cannot do all the time. I do hope that I can find funding for this and will try in earnest to pay for the nests to be removed for the next 3 years, which will result in 50% LESS seagulls in our area to poo, attack, screech, scatter litter and invade our lives. Thank you all who have put their slips back from the letters, which have been sent out and there is still a few weeks left that you can return them or email me to tell me the location of nests on maxine.smith.cllr@highland.gov.uk

The following survey is now closed, so don't try and complete it. Thanks.

Last year and years up to then I have received hundreds of complaints about seagulls, their squawking, their anti-social behaviour and their habits, as well as defecating and stealing food. In an attempt to try and gauge the extent of this problem I ran a Facebook query and was inundated with over 130 shares and over 300 comments, some humorous, some wanting to save the seagulls, but most wanting rid of them and stating what they had been up to.

So, having met with various people and officials the Council decided there was sufficient irritation in the community to take it onto the next step so a survey has been compiled this year to enable us to log the nest sites, then next year, if we can identify sufficient funding, we will begin our cull. This will consist of nests being removed I think, but the detail has still to emerge. Some birds will build elsewhere, but eventually after a 3 year period, usually the herring gull population reduces by about one third, which would make a significant difference to Alness, Invergordon and Evanton. I realise other areas may be affected but if we do this exercise in the Cromarty Firth Ward, then other councillors can take this on board in their own wards in future years.

It was carried out in Inverness recently and was successful, but the Inverness Business Improvement District paid for it, and we do not have this organisation present in my own area, so we need to find funding elsewhere, but this is being worked on. For now, this year we need to know where the nests are and we will then engage volunteers to go around and check the sites, so that we can map them properly.

It is not a quick fix but we have to start somewhere. I know there are some people out there that do not agree with the gull population being reduced, but I can assure them they are in the minority and the parts of the community affected by the birds is crying out for a solution, especially school sites where the grown birds attack the children. I therefore ask that as many people as possible take part in the Council survey, it is to be found here: